Chapter 4 - THE VOICE ON THE LINE
Naomi gripped the receiver.
“Ethan?”
The breathing stopped.
Evelyn signaled for security to trace the call.
“Where are you?”
Static filled the line.
Then Ethan’s voice returned.
“Don’t let Gideon take the phone.”
The call ended.
Naomi remained motionless.
Arthur approached her.
“A recording can be manufactured.”
“Not that breathing.”
Lila stared at the photograph.
“Why doesn’t Daddy come home?”
Naomi crouched before her.
“I don’t know yet.”
“Is he hiding from Uncle Warren?”
Arthur’s expression changed.
“Why would you ask that?”
Lila touched the bandage beneath her bow.
“Uncle Warren said Daddy made everyone sick.”
“When?”
“Before he put the phone in my pocket.”
“What else did he say?”
Lila’s eyes filled with tears.
“He said if I told Mommy, he would make her disappear too.”
Arthur walked into the corridor.
Naomi followed him.
“You knew Warren was involved in Ethan’s crash.”
“I suspected he had hidden financial records.”
“That is not what I asked.”
Arthur faced her.
Age seemed to settle across him.
“Two weeks before Ethan died, he came to my office. He said someone was stealing from the Caldwell Children’s Trust.”
“Who?”
“He would not name anyone until he had proof.”
“And you did nothing?”
“I asked Gideon Price to investigate.”
Naomi stared at him.
Ethan’s warning echoed through her mind.
The elevator chimed.
Gideon stepped into the hallway.
The family lawyer wore a charcoal tuxedo and carried a black leather case.
His eyes moved from Naomi to Room 814.
Then they settled on Ethan’s phone.
“Thank God,” he said. “You found it.”
No one moved.
Gideon smiled carefully.
“Arthur called me.”
Arthur stepped between him and the evidence bag.
“No.”
Gideon’s smile disappeared.
“I received a call from your office.”
“My office is closed.”
“Then someone used its number.”
Evelyn studied him.
“How did you know we found a phone?”
“Warren’s assistant told me.”
“Warren’s assistant has been detained without her phone.”
Silence filled the corridor.
Naomi held up Ethan’s photograph.
“He called this room.”
Gideon lost control of his face for less than a second.
“Ethan is dead.”
“You didn’t ask whether I was certain.”
Gideon moved toward the elevator.
A guard blocked him.
His right hand slipped toward his jacket.
Evelyn caught his wrist and removed a black hotel engineering key.
Gideon stared at it.
May you like
Arthur’s disappointment became cold suspicion.
“Tell us how that entered your pocket.”
